School: Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Track: Youth Class: Topic Library — Year 1 (Foundations) Presented by: Minister Destiny Marie Morgan, Muslim Ordained Minister
This lesson is educational information and is not legal advice. Laws vary by state. If you are in danger right now, call 911.
Before you start
- This space is private. Nobody sees what you read or answer. Your progress stays on your device.
- We never ask your name. Not here, not on the test, not on the certificate. If you earn a certificate, you download it and write your own name on it after.
- Pass the test at 80% or higher to earn this unit's certificate. You can retake the test as many times as you need — each retake presents the questions in a different order, with the answer choices in a different order too. Answers are not shown: go back and find what you missed.
- If you are in danger right now: call 911. If you cannot talk out loud, text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line) or call or text 988 any time, day or night.
- This unit teaches a skill that protects you everywhere: checking a story before you believe it. It works on scams, rumors, dares, and strangers — and on nice people too, because checking is not accusing.
The lesson
Part 1. Nobody can spot every lie — and that is not your fault
Here is a fact scientists have proven again and again: no body-language trick reveals a lie. Not eye contact, not fidgeting, not a shaky voice. When researchers test people — even police officers and judges — at telling truth from lies by watching, people score about 54 out of 100, barely better than flipping a coin.
So if someone has fooled you, you are not foolish — you are human. The good news: you do not need to read faces. You need to check stories, and checking is a skill anyone can learn.
Part 2. How tricksters work
People who trick others usually rush you. Watch for three moves:
- Hurry. "Decide right now." "Send it before midnight." Real things can almost always wait until tomorrow; a story that cannot survive one night of thinking fears the light.
- Big authority. "I am from the bank." "This is the school office." A title is a costume anyone can wear in a message.
- Secrecy. "Do not tell your parents." "This stays between us." Secrecy stops you from doing the one thing that defeats tricks: asking somebody else.
A person can use all three moves and sound kind, calm, and completely sure. Sounding sure is not being truthful.
Part 3. Check the story — four moves that work
- Ask what the proof is. "How do you know that?" is a fair question to anyone — even an adult, even a friend.
- Check a detail. Stories contain checkable pieces — a name, a place, a time, a rule. Check one somewhere the storyteller does not control: the real website, the real office, the official page.
- Wait and ask again. True stories stay steady in their main facts. If the big facts keep changing, that is information.
- Tell a trusted adult and compare. Two checkers catch what one alone would miss.
Checking works on rumors too: repetition is not proof — a hundred shares of a false story are still a false story.
Part 4. Special traps for young people
- Fake emergencies. "Your friend is in trouble, send gift cards / money / codes now." Real help starts with a trusted adult and a call to a known number — never gift cards.
- Too-good offers. Free game currency, free phones, prizes you never entered for. A gift from a stranger is bait.
- "Everyone is doing it." Pressure dressed as popularity. Ask: everyone who? Name three real people.
- Moving the conversation. Someone pushing to move from a public app to a private one, or asking you to keep the friendship secret, is using Part 2's secrecy move. That is a stop sign — tell a trusted adult today.
Part 5. If someone in authority questions you
Sometimes you are the one being questioned. You have rights in that room. In J.D.B. v. North Carolina, the Supreme Court said a young person's age counts when deciding whether they were really free to leave questioning — kids feel pressure from authority differently than adults do.
Your protections: you can ask, "Am I free to leave?" You can say, "I want my parent or guardian here," "I want a lawyer," and "I am going to stay silent." Saying these calmly is allowed — not rude, and not an admission of anything. Then tell a trusted adult everything that happened.
Words to know — Recognizing Lies and Truth
- Deception — trying to make someone believe something that is not true.
- Verification — checking a claim against proof outside the claim itself, like a document or another source.
- Independent source — a place you check that does not just repeat the first story, so it can confirm or disprove it.
- Consistency check — comparing a story over time to see whether its main facts stay the same.
- Rumor — a story passed person to person without proof; repeating it does not make it true.
- Trusted adult — a grown-up who will listen and help keep you safe — a parent, guardian, family member, teacher, or counselor.
- Pressure tactic — a trick that pushes you to decide fast or stay silent — hurry, big authority, or secrecy — so you will not check.
- Custody — being held by police so a reasonable person would not feel free to leave.
Myths vs facts — Recognizing Lies and Truth
- Myth: You can tell a liar by their eyes. Fact: Science has tested this for decades. No look, gesture, or voice change reliably reveals a lie.
- Myth: If five people say it, it must be true. Fact: Repetition is not proof. Five people can repeat one person's false story.
- Myth: Only little kids get tricked. Fact: Adults, including trained professionals, score barely better than chance at spotting lies by watching. Everyone needs checking habits.
- Myth: Checking a story means calling someone a liar. Fact: Checking is respect for the truth, not an accusation — honest people welcome it.
- Myth: If an adult says keep a secret from your parents, you should. Fact: Safe adults never ask kids to keep secrets from their parents or guardians. That request is itself a warning sign — tell a trusted adult.
Think it through — Recognizing Lies and Truth
A message arrives from an account using your friend's photo: "I'm locked out of my real account. I entered us in a contest and we WON — I just need the login code texted to your phone. Send it quick, it expires in 10 minutes!!"
Walk it through:
- Spot the moves from Part 2. Hurry ("10 minutes"), a story you cannot see, and a request aimed at your account — three flags before you have checked anything.
- Check a detail the storyteller does not control (Part 3). Message your friend on the app or number you already use. If the real friend says "not me," the story is over.
- Remember what the code really is. A login code sent to your phone is a key to your account; handing it over gives away the key (Part 4).
- Tell a trusted adult (Part 3). The adult can help report the fake account.
Cases & codes to study — Recognizing Lies and Truth
J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 564 U.S. 261 (U.S. Supreme Court, 2011)
- The facts: A 13-year-old student was taken from his classroom by a uniformed officer to a closed-door room at school and questioned for about half an hour by police and administrators about two break-ins. Nobody told him he could leave, nobody called his grandmother, his legal guardian, and he was not read his rights before he confessed.
- The question: When deciding whether a young person was in custody — and so should have been read their rights — may courts consider their age?
- The ruling and the outcome: Yes. A child's age properly counts when the officer knew it or it would have been obvious, because children experience police pressure differently from adults. The state decision was reversed, and the case sent back to be decided again with his age taken into account.
- Why it matters to you: Your age is not a weakness in that room — the law says it changes what pressure means. Asking for your guardian, asking if you are free to leave, and asking for a lawyer are rights the highest court protects at your age.
- 📄 Court document: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USREPORTS-564/pdf/USREPORTS-564-261.pdf (the official opinion, U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Where to read the real thing, free: CourtListener (courtlistener.com), Google Scholar case law (scholar.google.com), and the U.S. Supreme Court (supremecourt.gov).
Try this — Recognizing Lies and Truth
- ☐ Find one rumor or viral claim this week and run Part 3 on it: ask for proof, check one detail the poster does not control.
- ☐ Write down Part 2's three trickster moves and one example of each from a message, ad, or video.
- ☐ Practice saying these out loud until they feel easy: "Am I free to leave?" "I want my parent or guardian here." "I am going to stay silent."
- ☐ Choose your trusted adults now — name two, and save how to reach them.
Resources to keep — Recognizing Lies and Truth
- Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741 — if you would rather type than talk.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 — free, day or night.
- Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-422-4453 — if anything feels wrong or unsafe with an adult.
What you earned / what's next — Recognizing Lies and Truth
✅ Recognizing Lies and Truth complete (quiz score 80% or higher): You can explain why nobody can spot lies reliably from body language, name the three trickster moves, check any story four ways, recognize traps set for young people, and state your rights if questioned.
Your certificate
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Certificate of Completion — Recognizing Lies and Truth
This certificate is presented by Muslim Ordained Minister Destiny Marie Morgan
Awarded to: ______________________________ (write your name here after you download — your name is never collected or stored by this school)
Date completed: ______________
Congratulations. You learned the checker's habit: believe carefully, verify kindly, and never let hurry make your decisions. It will guard you in every classroom and every inbox. — Minister Destiny Marie Morgan
This is a certificate of educational completion from Minister Destiny Testimony Schools. It is not a state license, a government certification, or legal training for representing anyone.
What's next: Return to the Topic Library for your next Year 1 Foundations unit.
Sources
- Bond & DePaulo, "Accuracy of Deception Judgments" — Personality and Social Psychology Review (2006) — average truth/lie accuracy of about 54 percent.
- OpenStax, Psychology 2e — OpenStax, Rice University (openstax.org) (https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/preface) — research and social-psychology framing used to check this unit's concepts.
- J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 564 U.S. 261 (U.S. Supreme Court 2011) — a child's age informs the Miranda custody analysis.
Your Progress — On Your Device Only
- Learning outcomes: On completing this unit, the student can:
- state the research on spotting lies from behavior: no body-language trick is reliable;
- name the three trickster moves — hurry, big authority, secrecy;
- check a story four ways: ask for proof, check a detail independently, wait and compare, involve a trusted adult;
- identify traps aimed at young people — fake emergencies, too-good offers, secrecy requests;
- state their protections if questioned, including asking for a guardian.
- Study time: Approximately 0.5 hours — an estimate covering reading, activities, and the test. Students move at their own pace.
- Assessment: A 10-question test drawn only from this unit's lesson. 80% or higher passes and earns the unit certificate. Answers are not shown; your score is saved only in your own browser on this device, and retakes are allowed.
- Level: Topic Library — Year 1 (Foundations) · Youth school · working rank on completion path: Freshman → Sophomore.
- Version: Version 1.0 — October 2026.
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools — Youth. Educational information only, not legal advice. Help lines: 911 · 988 (call or text) · Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741) · Childhelp 1-800-422-4453.